Huaqing Hot Spring

Huaqing Hot Springs is a well-known historic site and an AAAAA tourist attraction of China.Situated at the northern foot of Mt. Lishan in Lintong County, 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from Xi’an City, Huaqing Hot Spring (Huaqing Pool) is famed for both its dainty spring scenery and the colorful history behind the area . Huaqing Hot Spring is famed for both its dainty spring scenery and the romantic love story of Emperor Xuanzong (685-762) and his concubine Yang Guifei in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Its long history and location among the wonderful landscapes of Xian should entice any visitor to visit and bathe in this hot spring.Since ancient times, Huaqing Hot Spring has been a tourist attraction. In the stone cave lies the existing round pool with the radius of about 1 meter. The water is clear and transparent with steams rising above and ripples gurgling underfoot.
It is said that King You built a palace here during the Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century BC-711 BC). Additions were subsequently made by the First Emperor Qing (259 BC-210BC) and Emperor Wu during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-24). During his reign, the Emperor Xuanzong spent dizzying amounts of his funds to build a luxurious palace, changing its name to Huaqing Hot Spring or Huaqing Palace. The palace thus has a history of 3,000 years and the hotspring a history of 6,000 years! Ranked among the Hundred Famous Gardens in China, it also has the status as a National Cultural Relic Protection Unit and a National Key Scenic Area.By continuing inward passing two symmetrical palace-style plunge baths and turning right, you will see the Nine-Dragon Lake. Despite the fact that the lake is artificial with an area of 5,300 square meters (6339 square yards), it constitutes one of the main enchanting sceneries in the Huaqing Palace.

Walking southwards through Dragon Marble Boat and several pavilions, you will find the Site of Imperial Pool, which is the only one of its kind to be discovered in China. The five remaining pools are the Lotus Pool, Haitang Pool, Shangshi Pool, Star Pool and Prince Pool. The lotus-like Lotus Pool was made for the Emperors’ bath, the Haitang Pool resembling a Chinese Crabapple was intended for concubines, and the Shangshi Pool was designated for officials. It is said that the former Star Pool had no roof and nothing to cover its four sides. There, must have been possible to truly experience the eternal beauty of Yang Guifei.Huan Garden is the former garden of the Huaqing Palace. By visiting the Huaqing Hot Spring, you will not only enjoy the scenery, but also taste the joy of imagining yourself back in the days of the Tang Dynasty.

The first pleasure to experience is to have a bath in the imitational Guifei Pool. With an even temperature of 43 degree (109 F), the ever-flowing water of the hot spring contains minerals and organic materials that have therapeutic effects on the skin. Water originating from four spring reaches a discharge level of 112 tons per hour. The spring water contains varieties of minerals and organic materials such as limes, sodium carbonate, silicon dioxide, aluminium oxide, sodium dioxide, sulfer, sodium sulfate and so on, which makes it suitable for bathing and the treatment of quite a few diseases such as dermatosis, rheumatism arthritis, and muscular pain. With an area of more than 3,000 square meters, Huaqing Hot Spring possesses bathing pools of over 100 and can hold about 400 people for bath per time.In the bath pool, you can experience the same comfort as did the Emperor Xuanzong or Yang Guifei.

Behind the Huaqing Pool, the Li Shan Mountain was the place where Emperor Xuanzong and Lady Yang had their love whispers. On top of the mountain remains the ancient beacon tower where King Yu of the Zhou Dynasty fooled his knights and warriors with a false beacon according to legend. He did this to please his beauty, Bao Ci, but this act eventually helped him to lose the support of his people.

In the palace of Huaqing Hot Spring, visitors who are interested in calligraphy will be delighted to discover the inscriptions collected there. Currently, the inscriptions include in total 7 steles, 16 stones with poems, 7 stone inscriptions, 4 stone carving, and an additional 69 tablets discovered in 1949. All of them represent elite work in the field of calligraphy art and materials of their kinds.After the discovery of remains of Tang operas and entertainments, the Exhibition Hall of Tang Art was built in 1995. Here, you can enjoy dance performances imitating the Tang style and a Chinese tea ceremony in the teahouse.